


Underneath The Ground

by pastles



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Mythology, God of Death, God of Spring, M/M, mythology AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 23:31:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7821517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastles/pseuds/pastles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Prompt 20</b><br/>AU: Mythology<br/>Scenario: The god of spring, Iruka, is kidnapped by the god of the underworld, Kakashi who wants to make him his husband. (<a>Inspired by Greek mythology about Persephone</a>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was not the most auspicious of beginnings.

“Let go of me, you piece of undead trash!”

Truly, this would have gone much smoother if he had been allowed to knock the other unconscious. Kakashi grumbled mentally even as he dodged a well aimed elbow at his face. But Naruto had already warned him that he had to treat this one with care, and Kakashi didn’t want to listen to the nagging his former pupil would subject him to if anything untoward were to happen to him.

“Ah… sensei, come on. You know that I am not undead. I’m just the ruler of the undead.” A pause. “And the dead.”

Kakashi hurriedly crouched to avoid the roundhouse kick to his face, and as his hair moved with the displaced air from the force of the kick, he was glad that his reflexes were just as good as before. He didn’t think that his head, thick as it was, would survive a direct hit. He wouldn’t die, but the headache would probably make him wish he could.

“If you don’t let me go, you’re going to wish that you were dead instead.”

“Ack, watch the hair, please.” Kakashi nimbly hopped out of range. “Look, Iruka-sensei, please calm down.”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN? I’ll calm down after I’ve kicked your ass,” Iruka, face red with anger, started towards Kakashi, who immediately held up his hands, palms facing Iruka.

“No, seriously. I can explain.”

It took 3 broken chairs, a shattered table and numerous cracks appearing in the walls, not to mention Kakashi’s drenched and torn robes, before Iruka calmed down enough to stop throwing things at Kakashi. Iruka wasn’t looking too good, himself; in his rage, he had torn parts of his robes, and his hair, usually neatly tied up was messy and some had escaped the hair tie to flit around his forehead and fall about his face. His face was red and he was still panting from his efforts to beat down Kakashi.

“It’s Naruto’s fault,” Kakashi kept his back to wall, and he made sure that he was in between Iruka and the door. When Iruka’s frown returned, he hurriedly continued. “Look, it seems like the Titans are beginning to move, and they’re aiming for Naruto. He was worried that they would go after you, so he asked that I take you here for your safety.”

“What? I can take care of myself!” Iruka looked insulted and, Kakashi noticed, more than a little touched.

“Naruto knows that too, but, you know how he gets.” Kakashi didn’t bother to point out that he was in the same boat as Iruka. Naruto  _ knew _ he never ventured out of the Underworld anymore. Not since the last Titan War. He had his place now, there was no need to fight. And with Iruka here, under Kakashi’s care, there was even less chance of him leaving his lands.

Besides, this was a battle for the young ones, the older gods had no place in this war. And Kakashi was so tired; he wondered if he was starting to get affected by the souls in this place.

“And you… what are you still doing here? Why are you not up there helping them?”

“This is not my fight.” Kakashi laid a hand on the doorknob. “Before you get used to this place, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to let you out of this room, Iruka-sensei. Please rest, and I’ll see you again tomorrow morning.”

Kakashi was out of the room in a flash, and the cup Iruka threw at him shattered on the closed door.

 

++++++++++

 

Coward. Iruka snarled at the door before flopping down onto the bed. He put the room to rights with a wave of his hand, and breathed in deeply. All he could smell was sulphur. Iruka made a face, already missing the smell of the forests and the sea. He didn’t understand why Naruto was so adamant that Iruka be taken away from Mount Olympus. Even if there was going to be a battle, Iruka would never go near the front lines.

He was the god of Spring, and rebirth, not the the god of Death.

At least the bed was comfortable. Iruka stared at the grey stone ceiling, noting the various cracks while he tried to calm down. When he ventured into the gardens that morning, he had not expected to be accosted by Kakashi. True, it was one of the gardens nearest to the entrance to the Underworld, but it wasn’t like it was his first time there. Besides, Sakura had asked him to help collect some herbs that only grew in that area.

Iruka slapped a palm onto this forehead. This was definitely Naruto’s fault; it was clear to him now. Everything had happened so fast that Iruka hadn’t even have the time to react. One moment he was picking the damn herbs, the next, strong arms had grabbed him from the back, and he felt a tug on his navel. When he came to, he found that himself in the room, and Kakashi, sitting by the table reading one of those stupid books of Jiraiya-sama’s.

Sitting back up, Iruka glanced around the room. As rooms went, it was a little plain. There was nothing on the walls, and the furniture was made of plain wood. Iruka’s own room back on Mount Olympus was filled with knick knacks and plants, mostly gifts from the other gods. There were large windows that let in the sun and wind, and from which he could admire the night skies and the stars.

He was missing home already.

Resolving to fix the situation the next time he saw Kakashi, Iruka got under the covers and forced himself to rest. He had a feeling he was going to need all the energy he could gather.

 

++++++++++

 

Kakashi hoped that a night’s rest would put Iruka in a better mood. For some reason, Kakashi always ended up on Iruka’s wrong side. And unlike with Tenzou, he didn’t even mean to annoy Iruka.

And yet, they never seemed to be able to have a conversation without either Iruka drenching him, or Kakashi having to escape before Iruka managed to bodily injure him. It was not that Kakashi didn’t want Iruka to get physical with him, it was just that Kakashi’s idea of getting physical involved a lot less pain for him, and a different sort of yelling, if possible.

He knocked softly and pressed an ear to the door, trying to gauge Iruka’s anger level. Not that that was possible. Kakashi wondered whether it would have been more advisable to send one of his hellhounds first. Bisuke was always a popular one, maybe his cuteness would help diffuse the situation.

“Come in.”

Iruka sounded calm, but maybe it was a trap. Kakashi had seen what Iruka could do with a flower petal and some spiderweb, he was not going to go into that room without extreme caution. Cursing Naruto, Kakashi cracked open the door.

“Oh, get in here. I’m not going to bite you.”

“Yo,” Kakashi gave Iruka his usual two-fingered salute and tried to project a feeling of calm. This was getting a bit ridiculous. He was the ruler of the Underworld, he was the defeater of the Titans, he was not some weak demi-god.

Thinking of Naruto, okay, so maybe not all demi-gods were weak.

In any case, Kakashi was a warrior, student of the great Sun God, Minato, and no fluffy god of Spring was going to scare him. Kakashi was about to say something when Iruka smiled at Kakashi as he finally entered the room.

Well, if anything, Kakashi would push all the blame to Naruto.

“Iruka-sensei, I hope you had a good rest?”

“I did. Kakashi-sama, please, have a seat.”

“Please, just Kakashi.”

Iruka was being reasonable, but Kakashi’s finely honed sense of danger was telling him that he shouldn’t let his guard down. He sat, but kept to just outside of Iruka’s reach. Iruka’s small smile told Kakashi that the other god knew exactly what he was doing.

Seriously, he just didn’t want to hear Naruto’s nagging.

“Kakashi...sensei, I understand and appreciate what you have done for Naruto.” Iruka began, all courtesy as he poured something hot into a cup. He handed it to Kakashi, who took a small sip, through his mask. That seemed to amuse Iruka who took a sip of his own drink.

Iruka placed his cup back on the table, his expression going serious, “I don’t know how Naruto talked you into this, Kakashi-sensei, but surely you can agree with me that this situation is ridiculous. There is absolutely no reason for me to be kept locked up here. I’d be just as safe on Mount Olympus as I am here.”

Kakashi hummed, and took another sip of his drink to delay his answer. He understood where Iruka was coming from, but Naruto was insistent that they had to hide Iruka. Maybe Kakashi should have gotten more information from Naruto, but he didn’t expect Iruka to react like this. Sure, the other god had a loud temper, but he’d always appeared relatively reasonable to Kakashi.

On the other hand, getting kidnapped might make even a saint unreasonable.

 

++++++++++

 

Iruka was about to throw the cup at Kakashi when the other god finally opened his mouth.

“Maa, Iruka-sensei,” By Hiruzen-sama’s pipe, Iruka really hated the way Kakashi said his name sometimes. It stirred up things in him that he would rather leave untouched. Their lives were too long to make things complicated.

He’d already learned that lesson the first time.

“You know that Mount Olympus is not impenetrable.”

“And this place is better?”

Iruka was sure that Kakashi was smirking, and reminded himself that he needed the other god’s help if he wanted to leave this place. “Generally, if any living being crosses into my territory, I know immediately.”

Iruka gulped at the hard look that crossed Kakashi’s face, “And, no mortal or soul can leave this place without my knowledge… or permission.”

“What about gods?”

Kakashi shrugged, “I’d know that they’ve entered, but…” A sip of the tea that Iruka made, “Then we’ll have to take our chances.”

“Did Naruto actually say why I have to be here?”

Iruka narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Kakashi raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. “Heh… Actually, he didn’t really exactly say why...”

Iruka rubbed his temple, and sighed. Loudly. This was why he never liked dealing with Elder Gods like Kakashi. For all Iruka knew, Naruto may have said something that Kakashi just didn’t want to tell Iruka, or, maybe Kakashi really didn’t know what was going on.

Maybe he didn’t care.

It had been years since the god of the Underworld ventured above land. Not since the last Titan War was he seen, when they managed to defeat Kaguya and her Tailed Titans, and gained control of Mount Olympus. Most of the pantheon avoided talking about him, and there were many rumours that floated around, but none that Iruka really paid attention to. He had been too busy with Naruto; and even when Naruto was studying under Kakashi, Iruka had been too busy with his new role as the god of Spring to really dig into his charge’s new teacher. As long as Naruto returned relatively unscathed, Iruka was fine.

Kakashi wasn’t what he expected though. Even though he rarely appeared on Mount Olympus, he was still an Elder God, with a reputation of being unyielding and grim. The Kakashi in front of him now gave him the impression that he wouldn’t do anything if he could help it, and he seemed kinder than Iruka would expect the ruler of the Underworld to be. Although, Iruka guessed, anyone who was supposedly best friend of Gai, he of the winged orange leg warmers, would be relatively weird.

“So, I guess I’m stuck here?”

Iruka had to close his eyes at Kakashi’s beam. No really, Kakashi literally lit aflame with some sort of blue, crackling fire. When Iruka was sure that he wasn’t going to get blinded (Kakashi really was the student of the Sun God), he opened his eyes and coughed. Kakashi was still in his seat, looking all nonchalant, but if Iruka looked closer, he was sure he could see that a small area above the mask line was red.

“Also, Iruka-sensei…”

“Yes?”

“You’re also going to have to marry me.”

 

[Omake - Or a sneak peek into the next chapter]

For the second time in as many days, Kakashi had to escape his own room, wincing as the table crashed against the door. Maybe Pakkun was right about Kakashi needing to work on his social skills. Not that Kakashi had ever seen a need until that day; souls of the dead generally didn’t expect courtesy from you.

“Boss?”

“Pakkun, I need you take a message to Naruto. Take Bull with you.”

“Got it, Boss. What do you want us to tell him?”

“Get him to either come down here himself or write a note to explain the situation.”

“Right. We’ll be off now.”

“Be careful.”

“Always am. And Boss?”

“What?”

“Reeeeal smooth, that proposal there.”

“Shut up.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute works wonders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to the awesome mods over at [kakairu_fest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakairu_fest/pseuds/kakairu_fest) for being awesome

Iruka was going to kill Naruto. He would kill Kakashi but that man was an actual god, and thus immortal unless you had like, the blood of 3,000 virgins or some sort of impossible-to-exist weapon. Naruto was at least still mortal… for now

Fixing the table, again, Iruka made another pot of the tea he found in one of the drawers in the room. It was delicious and he felt himself calming down as he savoured his tea. He glared at the door, now sporting a few new scratches. What was that Kakashi thinking? Marriage? To HIM? Even as a joke, that was taking things too far.

Another sip of the tea, Iruka contemplated his situation as he tapped his fingers on the table. He really had no idea what game Kakashi was playing. Iruka trusted that Kakashi wouldn’t deliberately harm him, and he was also very sure that Naruto has a hand in this. At the thought of Naruto, Iruka started to worry. What was going on? It had to be something big or else Naruto wouldn’t have even involved Kakashi. And what was Iruka’s role in all this? Try as he might, Iruka just couldn’t see how he could be involved. He was new to his role, and as far as he knew, he was the god of Spring, of rebirth and renewal and… other things.

Iruka scratched at the scar across his nose. He was really going to have to get his blushing under control.

++++++++++

It had been a mistake to help Naruto. Kakashi thought as he stared out into the Styx, eyes following the little boat in the distance. He shouldn’t have involved himself in this matter, Naruto was now the official ruler of Mount Olympus, and Kakashi was just an old god who was only still around because no one wanted to take on his role.

He heard his hellhounds howling, their cries causing the murmurs to rise in volume too. Ignoring the low keening cries with a nonchalance borne of habit, Kakashi teleported to where his dogs had cornered their prey.

”Let me go back! I want to see my children!”

Blue lighting and hell flames crackled at Kakashi’s hand as he reached out to grab the whimpering soul. A whispered command, and it disappeared, back to where it crawled out from.

_I want to see my mommy!_

_Where are my babies?_

_This cannot be true! I can’t be dead!_

Kakashi sighed, over the years, he’d heard many different variations of the same refrain. When he was first given this land, he had just banished all the souls that managed to escape into Tartarus where they would suffer the wrath of Kaguya.

It had been Obito who showed him that he could still have mercy.

It had been Obito who…

Kakashi ruthlessly quashed his thoughts. It was no use thinking of the past long gone by. At this moment, he had a really pissed of god of Spring in his room, probably thinking up of ways to injure him, or worse, destroy his collection of Jiraiya-sama’s works.

Which was currently in his room.

The room that Iruka was in.

Crap.

++++++++++

Iruka wasn’t sure that the door would open, but it opened smoothly when he tried the knob. Eyebrows raised, Iruka glanced at the doorway. Squaring his shoulders, Iruka strode out of the room. From what he gathered from the his previous conversation with Kakashi, the god of the Underworld was not able to track the presence of gods. Which meant that if Iruka was able to find the way out, he’d be able to return to Mount Olympus.

Trying to recall everything that he knew about the Underworld, Iruka cautiously rounded the corner of the corridor. If he remembered what Hiruzen-sama, the old oracle, told him, he’d have to look out for the monsters and guards that trawl the Underworld. They were ones that prevented the souls from leaving the place.

Iruka wrinkled his nose, the smell of sulphur irritating it. He wondered how Kakashi handled it; maybe it was why he wore that mask.

There was something else that Hiruzen-sama told Iruka. Something to do with Kakashi and his nose… or...

“Iruka-sama!”

“Ack!”

Iruka clutched at his chest, his heart thundering as he he looked around for person the voice belonged to. A tugging on the bottom of his robes had him looking down.

“Ah..”

It was a dog, a small brown dog with dark brown rings around its eyes and wearing a small blue coat with a symbol on the back. It sat back on its haunches and barked once, tail wagging as its tongue lolled out of its mouth.

“H...Hi?” Iruka knelt down in front of him and resisted the urge to pet.

“I’m Bisuke!” A warm tongue licked at Iruka’s fingers, and Iruka couldn’t resist. He ruffled the head.

“You’re one of Kakashi-sama’s hellhounds, right?”

“Yes!” A bark and another quick lick.

Iruka groaned, he was totally defenseless against cuteness and mischievousness, how else would one explain why Iruka let Naruto get away with so many things? “So, are you here to keep an eye out on me?”

Bisuke cocked his head to one side and tried very hard to put on an innocent expression. “Err, no?”

Iruka chuckled and placed his hand on Bisuke’s head. “It’s alright. If I promise that I won’t try to escape today, will you accompany me on my walk?”

Iruka frowned, as another thought occurred to him. “Or am I not allowed to leave my room?”

Bisuke shook his head, “Boss told us that you’re allowed to leave the room now.”

“Now?”

“Sometimes,” Bisuke scratched at the back of his left ear, and there was a few moments of silence as Bisuke wiggled about in delight when Iruka took over the scratching. “Sometimes, it takes a while for gods to get used the Underworld. Boss wanted you to acclimatise before you walk around.”

“Ah,” Iruka finally stood up. If he continued to let Bisuke distract him, he was never going to get anything done.

“Come on, I want to see what this place is like.”

++++++++++

Kakashi had hidden all his books and was sitting at the table reading one of them, ankle crossed over knee, by the time Iruka returned to the room. He only shut his book when he realised that Iruka was standing right in front of him.

“Soooo… Iruka-sensei, how was your day?” Kakashi nodded at Bisuke, who bumped his head once against Iruka’s calf before disappearing in a puff of smoke. 

Seemed like Bisuke got on along just fine with Iruka. Mission accomplished. 

“I’ve had better.” Iruka made tea and even nice enough to make Kakashi’s share. Kakashi slipped his mask off to take a sip when Iruka started choking.

“You okay there, sensei?” Kakashi helpfully patted Iruka on the back.

“You,” Iruka cleared his throat. “You took off your mask.”

Was that it? Kakashi shrugged, but made no move to put his mask back on. “Yes, so I did.”

Iruka must have decided against saying anything more obvious. The other god sniffed, a little contemptuously, if you asked Kakashi, not that Kakashi really minded. After all, Iruka was the one who was held here against his will.

“I can’t believe that you’d use your hellhound to try distract me. Aren’t they supposed to be these really scary monst… beings?”

Kakashi let Iruka’s slip slide. “Eh, Bisuke’s really cute, right?”

“He is.”

Kakashi cleared his throat, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable. He propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand and looked straight at Iruka. “Look, Iruka-sensei. I really do think that Naruto has you here because he cares a lot about you. If he thinks that it is important for you to be here, then he must have had his reasons.”

Iruka sighed, loud and long. “I guess. I just wished that he had talked to me first before getting you to kidnap me here.”

“That’s probably my fault. I just thought that that was the fastest way to get you here. From what I gathered, time was of the essence.”

Iruka’s glare wasn’t as strong as his previous ones. “You’re lucky I am a nice god.”

Kakashi chortled, “Believe me, Iruka-sensei. I know how nice you are.”

Hmm, Iruka did look very cute with that blush.


	3. Chapter 3

Iruka wasn’t sure how many days had passed since he had been brought into the Underworld, and he was slowly growing mad. Back in Mt Olympus, he had Naruto to take care of, plants to tend to, friends to socialise with, and human wishes to listen to.

Here in the Underworld, where it never got bright, Iruka had nothing to do and the boredom of his daily life had driven him to reading Kakashi’s collection. He’d found the books on the third day of his forced detention, but wisely decided to not mention anything to Kakashi, least the other god took away his only source of entertainment. All he could say that Jiraiya-sama deserved his name as Eros.

But reading those books caused Iruka to be even more agitated, so he stopped. He took daily walks with Kakashi’s hellhounds. So far, he’d met Urushi, he of the angry expression, but who was extremely sweet and liked to sleep with his head on Iruka’s foot, then there was Akino, whom Iruka had to reassure all the time that he looked _extremely_ cool with his sunglasses, and Shiba, whose hair was really too soft to be able to stay up so easily, and Uuhei, who liked to zip about really fast that sometimes Iruka felt giddy just trying to _see_ where she was trying to go, and Guruko, who was really laid back and was more apt to roll over for Iruka to rub his belly than to go gallivanting around their home (Iruka usually obliged and they spent many hours just lying about) and finally, Bisuke, who was friendly and the one that Iruka saw the most of. 

Apparently there were two more of the pack that Iruka hadn’t met, but they were out on an errand and were not back yet. And while Kakashi had others under his rule, and who also patrolled the Underworld, the hellhounds were the only ones that Kakashi spent time with, and they felt more like family (or as Bisuke had put it, “pack”) than minions. Walking, okay, racing with the hellhounds helped work off some extra energy but the Underworld was unlike the toplands in that the scenery never changed. All Iruka ever saw was stone, and some dark rivers with things floating in them that he didn’t want to think too much about. 

Iruka was very certain that the hellhounds were very adept at keeping away from paths that would lead to the exits; not that Iruka had given them any signs that he was trying to escape. He wasn’t really; having already given in to the fact that he was stuck in the Underworld because his former charge was a worrywart.

That didn’t mean that he didn’t want to know how to leave the place.

Iruka wondered what Kakashi was up to when he wasn't around Iruka. Every evening, the god of the Underworld would appear in Iruka’s room, and they would talk while having dinner. At first, it was mostly Iruka talking about his life back home, and the pranks that he used to play on the other gods. Slowly, Kakashi began to open up. Iruka was delighted when Kakashi shared his stories of Hiruzen-sama, the Great Oracle, who had taken Iruka in when he was but a young god. Kakashi had apparently met Hiruzen-sama way before Iruka, and he was more than happy to share stories of his teacher to Iruka. It had also been Hiruzen-sama’s suggestion for Naruto to study under Kakashi, saying that the great warrior god would be a fair teacher to the young demi-god.

Despite the conversations that they had, Iruka realised that he still knew very little of his captor. There was the image of the strict and serious Kakashi that he heard stories of growing up, and the other image made from Naruto’s _constant_ complaints of lateness, lying and pervertedness, and the one that Iruka saw every evening, quiet and unassuming. The Kakashi that Iruka saw seemed a little sad and a little empty.

He recalled the rumours that he had heard. That a long time ago, Kakashi came by his powers from killing a close friend, another young god, and that he had killed another friend when she tried to expose him. All these happened way before Iruka’s time; during the time when the gods were battling Kaguya and her Tailed Titans. When the battle dust settled, and Kaguya had been been banished, Kakashi was given dominion over the Underworld, while Minato ruled over the air and sky, and Iruka’s father was given rule over the oceans. Kakashi had been hailed as a great warrior, and stories of his great courage and bravery had been sung throughout the lands, but those stopped when he began his rule of the Underworld. Instead, the humans had started avoiding talking about Kakashi, as though they didn’t want to garner his attention. " _When the red eye comes for you, it’s the end._ " The humans kept saying.

Iruka snorted. If anything, the humans should have more fear for Itachi. After all, _he_ was the _real_ god of Death.

Iruka peeped from behind a pillar. He was finally able to avoid the hellhounds. Despite the strong smell of sulphur that seeme to permeate everything, they’d always seemed to be able to find him. When Iruka asked how it was that they were able to do that, the hellhounds just grinned their (scary) hellhound grins, and said that they had really good noses.

So, Iruka took a gamble and pulled on one of Kakashi’s robes that morning. And it worked. None of the hellhounds appeared when he stepped out of his room. Iruka cackled softly, and tugged the robes tighter around himself. There had been a very interesting corridor that the hellhounds refused to let him go closer. Perhaps that way led back to Olympus.

Iruka hurried towards the tunnel. No one paid him any attention; well, in truth, there wasn’t anyone around to pay attention to him, and he made it to the tunnel without any obstructions. He took a deep breath and walked into the dark tunnel. He wasn’t really trying to escape, but it would be good to know where the exits were, just in case something happened.

The tunnel was damp, and it was just lit enough that Iruka won’t trip over anything. The walls was slimy and Iruka wiped his hand on his borrowed robes in disgust. He mentally apologised to Kakashi, and promised to clean the robes before returning them.

Iruka felt a breeze on his face and grinned. Wind! That meant he was going in the right direction. Soon, he’d reach the exit and then he’d be able to go home and give Naruto a piece of his mind. Iruka quickened his steps, his breathing growing faster until he was all but panting. Kakashi would probably be really pissed that Iruka managed to escape. Hah! That’ll show him! Stupid, mysterious Elder God. 

Iruka slowed down, he didn't really want Kakashi to be annoyed with him. Sure, it was the other god’s fault that Iruka was technically a prisoner, unable to help someone he considered family… but Kakashi had done that for Iruka’s sake, right? Kakashi had been extremely kind to Iruka, even giving up his bed and room. One of the hellhounds had let slip that at when Iruka asked them where Kakashi slept. Maybe Kakashi would visit Iruka on Mount Olympus? Then Iruka could show him all his favourite places? Unlike Kakashi, who was extremely selfish for not even showing Iruka around. Had to let the hellhounds do that for him. Not that Iruka didn’t enjoy the company of the hellhounds. And Kakashi was always laughing at Iruka! Iruka wrinkled his nose as he recalled the numerous times when the side of Kakashi’s lips would quirk up, even though Iruka didn’t say anything funny at all. Iruka wondered, briefly, how Kakashi’s lips would taste…

“IRUKA!”

++++++++++

Most humans believed gods to be immortal. But Kakashi knew better. They were just extremely difficult to extinguish. One had to want to badly enough, and the stars had to be aligned for the death of a god to happen. Kakashi knew all the about the dying and killing of gods. He’d watched one die and killed another, after all.

But gods most certainly did _not_ die of something as trivial as a heart attack.

And yet, that was how Kakashi felt when he raced down the tunnel towards the scent that he had picked up. He swore he’d curve out his heart and put it somewhere when this was over, just so he wouldn’t have to feel it racing painfully in his chest. Or feel like it was choking him in his throat, making breathing difficult when he came to the figure crawling on the ground in the dark tunnel.

“Kakashi… Kakashi…”

Kakashi shook his head. The voice was low and seductive, wrapping around his senses, making breathing even more difficult. It was not a voice that he associated with Iruka.

“Kakashi, _please_...”

And yet, it _was_ Iruka’s lips that formed his name… Iruka’s hand that was reaching for him…

The voice changed… into a voice that Kakashi knew he’d never be able to hear except in dark memories that continue to haunt him.

“Take it, you know you want to.”

Kakashi jerked back, feeling as though he was doused with cold water, horrified to find that he was crouched above Iruka, Iruka’s hands captured in his above the Spring God’s head. Iruka who was on his back, desperate moans coming out from him, trying very hard to move even deeper into the cave. The moment Kakashi moved, Iruka rolled over onto his hands and knees and began crawling away. 

“Not today, bitch,” Cursing under his breath, Kakashi rushed towards Iruka and managed to wrestle the resisting god into his arms. Carrying him princess style (oh, there was going to be. So. Much. Teasing), Kakashi hurried out of the tunnel, relieved when everything turned quiet. No seductive voice, male or otherwise, echoing in it, clouding his senses.

He made sure his dogs saw him and Iruka when he came out of the tunnel.

++++++++++

The mother of all headaches (no, he didn’t mean Kushina-sama) greeted Iruka when he finally got his eyes opened. And he had to close them immediately when they were assaulted by the bright lights in the room.

Strange, he didn’t recall the lights being that strong. His… Kakashi’s room was never truly dark, usually it was awash in a dim glow. At first, Iruka had thought it was too dark, but he’d grown used to it; like how he had grown used to the smell of the place. The stink of the sulphur that permeated the place no longer annoyed him as it did when he was first there. And when he was in the room, the smell wasn’t as strong, and Iruka was able to catch the scent of something else.

It smelled suspiciously like… dog.

Iruka wrinkled his nose. There was no mistaking it. He _did_ smell dog. It was then that Iruka noticed the warmth that was plastered to the left side of his body. Cracking his eyes opened, Iruka turned his head, expecting to be greeted by one of the hellhounds only to be met with a face full of grey (okay, fine, _silver_ ) hair.

“Ack!” Iruka startled and would have fallen off the bed if a strong arm hadn’t shot out to curl around his waist.

The same arm yanked Iruka back from the edge of the bed and pulled Iruka closer to the source of warmth. Iruka swore he felt Kakashi snuggle even closer.

“What… what are you doing in my bed?” Iruka tried to wiggle away but the arm around him tightened. Kakashi even shifted until he had one shoulder on Iruka and he mumbled something into the pillow.

“What?” Iruka quit his struggling, and wondered if he could get enough leverage to poke Kakashi really hard in his ribs. “What did you say?”

“...Bed…”

“Oh for crying out loud, Kakashi-sensei , I can’t hear you if you speak into the pillow.” Iruka put on his strictest voice. The one he used when Naruto was being a right brat.

Kakashi’s head shifted by a miniscule amount, Iruka could barely even make out his face, seeing as Kakashi’s hair was all over his face… and, was he still wearing his mask?

“It’s technically my bed,” Kakashi tightened his hold again, managing to keep Iruka’s arms pinned to his side and between their bodies.

Probably did it on purpose, Iruka gritted his teeth at the tightening hold, but he still managed to elbow Kakashi really hard, and was pleased to hear the muffled “oomph”.

“Let me up.” Iruka wiggled, feeling more uncomfortable for every second he was caught in Kakashi’s arms.

Actually, Iruka was feeling rather comfortable, until he realised that he was feeling comfortable, then he started feeling uncomfortable that he was feeling comfortable… he must have hit his head when he was in the tunnel.

The tunnel!

“What’s wrong?” Kakashi finally loosened his hold when Iruka stiffened and he propped himself up on his elbow to look down at Iruka.

“What happened in the tunnel, Kakashi-sensei?” Iruka sat up, and looked down at Kakashi, who was looking at him with a gaze that made Iruka think that he wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of the other god. The single visible eye narrowed and Kakashi sighed.

“You wandered into the tunnel towards Tartarus.”

“WHAT?” Iruka squawked and would have fallen off the bed if Kakashi hadn’t grabbed hold of his waist again. He was too agitated to even take note of that.

“You mean, that tunnel leads to where Kagu… _she_ is being held?”

Kakashi cleared his throat, “Yes, and you almost made it to the end.”

Iruka started shivering. He knew what that meant. Every god knew that Kaguya was always looking for a way to escape from her prison, and she would use any means available to her to return to rule everyone again. Iruka, a relatively young god, didn’t really recall what life was like under Kaguya, but his father had told him tales when he was much younger. And he’d wake up from nightmares and his mother would smack his father for telling him scary stories before bedtime, and…

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” Strong arms encircled him, and Iruka breathed in deeply the smell of sulphur and dog, so different from the smell of the sea of his parents, but just as soothing. A hand was slowly stroking his back, while another as massaging his nape.

“It’s just the aftereffects of being so close to Kaguya. She affects people deeply, especially if you’re not used to her. 

Kakashi’s low voice washed over Iruka, spreading a warmth in him that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room, and everything to do with the body next to him.

“Kakashi-sensei, I’m fine now, thank you.” Sure that his face was red, Iruka pushed away from the other god.

Iruka wasn’t sure, but he thought that Kakashi hesitated a little before letting go. He smiled up at Kakashi, only to have his smile slowly disappear at Kakashi’s intense look. The intimate gaze was gone in a blink, and the eye curved up.

“Come on then, Iruka-sensei.” Kakashi gave Iruka a small push, “Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?” Wanting to put as much distance as he could between them, Iruka obediently got off the bed, followed quickly by Kakashi.

“Trust me, you’ll like it.”

++++++++++

Iruka’s heartfelt groan filled the whole area, and Kakashi couldn’t help by grin at the totally satisfied look the other god had on his face.

“So, I heard from Naruto that you had a liking for hot springs…” Kakashi adjusted his mask as he slipped into the hot pool, and slowly sat down, facing the still sighing God of Spring. Kakashi liked the occasional soak, but the smell of sulphur prevented him from indulging in the hot springs that popped up around the Underworld too often.

“I _love_ hot springs.” Iruka groaned again and Kakashi shifted slightly in the hot water. He was a battle-hardened god, not a young _eromenos_ , for crying out loud. If anything, shouldn’t he should be the _erastes_ instead?

Kakashi frowned down at the milky water until a splash pulled him away from his thoughts. He looked up to see Iruka grinning unrepentantly at him. Kakashi decided that he _did_ like it when Iruka smiled. There was a freedom in it that he hadn’t felt for a very long time. Iruka’s expression grew more serious, and Kakashi decided that he liked _that_ expression too.

He was a goner.

“I…” Iruka cleared his throat. “Thank you…”

Kakashi cocked his head to one side and grinned under his mask as he watched Iruka’s face slowly redden. He didn’t think that it was because of the hot water.

“Thanks for the rescue.”

“No problems, Iruka-sensei. I’ll rescue your ass anytime.” Kakashi grinned and didn’t bother to avoid the splash of hot water.

++++++++++

The soak in the hot springs did wonders for Iruka’s mood and he felt the lightness returning to his soul as he reached for his glass of wine that Kakashi had placed behind them. The other god had moved next to him after getting dunked, joking that he might as make things easier or Iruka.

Currently, the other god had his head tilted back against the rock behind him, his silver hair wilting from the heat of the place, eyes closed and a feeling of contentment around him. Iruka took a sip of his wine and marvelled at how relaxed they both felt around each other now.

When Iruka turned to place his cup down, and almost dropped it when he realised that he had taken the wrong glass. He had drank out of Kakashi’s cup.

“Ah… Kakashi-sensei…” Damn it, his face was red from the hot springs!

Iruka assumed that Kakashi heard him from the slight shifting of his shoulders.

“Sorry, but I may have drank out of your glass.”

Iruka scratched at his nose and started to chuckle, trying to laugh off the feeling of embarrassment, but his laughter died down when Kakashi stiffened and turned to stare at him.

“What?”

Iruka frowned; Kakashi’s one eye stare making him uncomfortable, as did that growing look of horror. How Iruka could tell the change in expression from the slight widening of the eye he didn’t know. What was Kakashi’s problem? It was just a bit of wine. Surely, Kakashi wasn’t such a stingy man, right? Or maybe he just had issues with others using his glass without permission? But, Iruka didn’t do it on purpose.

Oh well, Iruka sighed, reining in his growing temper, he was the one in the wrong in the first place.

“I said I was sorry. I drank out of your cup.”

Did Kakashi just turn pale? Iruka wasn’t too sure; the silver hair god’s face was splotchy red from the steam, in a way that would have have made anyone else look bad but only seemed to have made Kakashi look kind of cute to Iruka.

“How much did you drink?” Kakashi demanded.

Okay, Iruka tried to clamp down on his temper. This was getting a bit ridiculous. It was just a small sip, it wasn’t like Iruka took a huge gulp. Was there a need for Kakashi to immediately check the contents of his glass?

“Oh, by Minato-sama’s flash, it was just a small sip, Kakashi-sensei.” Iruka couldn’t care less that he sounded a little petulant at the moment.

Kakashi slowly placed the glass back and muttered under his breath. All Iruka could hear over the splashing of water as Kakashi moved away from him were, “Naruto”, and “not my fault” and something like, “going to get killed”.

“I’m really sorry,” Iruka tried again. “Here, you can have the rest of my wine.”

Iruka made a move to stand only to be stopped by a hand on his knee, under the water. He stiffened and could only be glad that Kakashi’s hand was not much higher.

“It’s not that, Iruka-sensei.”

Iruka scowled and settled back under Kakashi’s urging, Kakashi hand a hot spot on his leg.

“Then… what is it?” Iruka hoped that it wasn’t something that would cause him to hit Kakashi; he’d gone through too much that day already.

“Seems like we’re joined in an union together now.”

[Omake]

“YOU HAD TO CARRY ME IN WHAT WAY?”

“Oh yeah, he did, Iruka-sama! You looked way out of it,” Akino nodded and managed to dislodge and adjust his sunglasses back at the same time.

“Like a princess, Iruka-sensei.” Kakashi’s smirk was totally obvious even under that mask as he mimed carrying Iruka.

“And you made sure the dogs saw this?” Iruka grinned mentally as Kakashi dropped his arms and took a step back when he turned his gaze at the silver-hair god.

“They were just there…”

“We were helping the boss!” Uuhei added.

Kakashi grabbed onto that like a lifeline. “Yes! They were helping me!”

“Oh, were they? You were going to let your hellhounds go into the tunnel too?”

It was possible, Kakashi was actually able to grow paler, and Iruka cackled in his head. He knew that Kakashi just wanted to tease, and that it was his own fault for wandering into the tunnel in the first place… but it wasn’t often that Iruka was able to tease the stoic god.

And he was prepared to take advantage of that.

With a howl of fake outrage, Iruka reached out and dunked Kakashi’s head right into the hot water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, Kakashi is in _so much_ trouble.
> 
> Also, err, unbetaed. So if you find any mistakes, please do point them out :)

**Author's Note:**

> This happens *every time* OTL Many thanks to the mods for their patience. <3 This fic is far from finished, I thought this would be a good place to stop for the moment.
> 
> This story is what happens when you let me take my minimal understanding of a thing to try to make something of it.
> 
> In my head, Naruto's Hercules, and he saved Hinata from certain death, hence he was granted full god status (ala the Disney version of "Hercules"). Also, that has no bearing on this story at all :D


End file.
